Rosicky injury update

Czech Republic wing wizard Tomas Rosicky is still some way from full fitness according to Arséne Wenger.

The 27 year old has been out since January with a knee problem and Wenger feels that the mini midfielder is making slow, but steady progress.

“It looks like the tendon of his hamstring is healing slowly.” he said.

“He has been out now for seven weeks. It is difficult to say to you that he will play next week. In fact it is impossible to say when he will return. He has not practised and I don’t know what to say really. It is a frustration for me and him as well.

“He’s a very genuine guy who wants to play. If you tell him to come in tomorrow morning at 4am and leave at midnight so it will be better, he will do it. He has an absolutely genuine attitude and is 100 per cent committed but he’s just not ready.”

Rosicky himself is finding it difficult to sit on the sidelines while he recovers from his injury. He told Sky Sports:

“I take it as this simply is a part of football and strong individuals must cope with it. And I will cope with it. It will not stop me nor break me down. But I have realised how much I love football.”

Asked what he does to keep pessimistic thoughts out of his head, he said: “Well, nothing helps me. It is good though that I can be with my team-mates every day. Otherwise, it is not good at all.

“At the moment, I cannot imagine living a life free of football. You are often pretty tired during the season, for instance over Christmas. But then if I am on holiday, I relax a little bit and then, still being on the beach, my legs are craving for football.” “

There’s absolutely no doubt that we need Tomas back to give us some extra width that has been missing in recent games. When on the ball, he glides across the pitch and seems to be a maestro on the ball which of course gave him the nickname ‘Little Mozart’. I hope he gets a few games before the season ends, if we had him fit the whole season you could expect an extra 10 goals in the side, it really does show how good he is.

So come on Tomas, get fit, we all want to see you back and match fit playing in your beloved no 7. Arsenal shirt!

Chelsea Preview Coming Tomorrow…

Flam and Gilberto contract talks

Picture from SkySports

Arséne Wenger has assured Arsenal fans that Mathieu Flamini will sign a new contract before the end of the season.

Le Boss was talking to Arsenal TV and said:

“We are on course there, negotiations are going well and we hope to sort that out in April,” Wenger told the Channel.

As for Brazilian midfielder Gilberto, Wenger told the media that he will “sit down and talk” with him over a possible contract extension.

Wenger said:

“It’s too early to say that [he will leave], it is more down to Gilberto’s desire because at the moment he does not play,” Wenger said. “We will sit down together, we are adults, Gilberto is a very strong man with a big personality and he will know what he wants to do at the end of the season. I’m happy if he stays but we’ll sort it out at the end of the season.

“He’s a fantastic player, a fantastic person and has a lot of credit within the group. He has a lot of quality, but his bad luck was that the team started (the season) without him and did well.”

Two midfielders, both stalling on contract talks. Sources close to the club seem to think Flamini is not far away from signing his new contract. As for Gilberto, he’s surplus to requirements here at Arsenal, I doubt he’ll stay. Gigi has served the club well but in my opinion - his time is up at the club and he has to move on.

More later!